Hi IBA family,
This is being sent separately from the newsletter so that it gets its own attention! I know it’s a little late in the season, but it will still be helpful for this final month. And we’ll send this again in the fall as a reminder.
1. The IBA WEBSITE has all of the info that is sent out via email. If you haven’t ever opened it, please take a minute and look through it. I think it would answer many questions that get asked to the group via the Band app. Our web master redesigned it this year so that its main purpose is to be an information resource to our parents and dancers. Idahoballroomacademy.com.
2. The BAND app that we use for group communication is a great tool. It is not perfect, but it is the best group message service of the three that I’ve used. We would like to encourage smart use of the app so that it is effective and helpful for everyone!
Please read through these guidelines:
• Don’t post anything on the IBA MAIN group that is team specific. The MAIN group should be a place for info that pertains to all teams, or general questions for all dancers/parents.
• Make sure that you are a member of your dancer’s team group as well as on the MAIN group. There are groups for the age teams, lift teams, tech classes, and semi-private/opens. If you’re not, contact me or your coach to get the invite link.
• Please don’t comment just to comment! Remember that everyone in the group gets a DING when comments are added. I know many of you have turned off the notifications due to so much DINGING, and then you miss important info. I understand about the dinging - mine really blows up sometimes. - If the message says, “please text me… “ about an answer to the post, please don’t comment on the thread, and please do send them a text!
• You can chat with any member of the group outside of the main thread. Click on the “members” icon (the little heads) and you can select the person you want to contact.
• Please identify yourself in a way that the coach or other parents can find you. “Steve’s Mom” or something like that after your name is really helpful.
• Please text me or your coach directly if it’s something that we can specifically answer for you. Text the coach directly to let them know your dancer won’t be coming to class. I’ve received several messages about dancers missing class, which I then send on to the coach. Sometimes I miss sending something in a timely manner (remember - I’m the weak link!). To contact a coach directly, it really is more effective to send them a text rather than a Band message. All of their contact info is on the bottom of every email, but I’m going to include it here.
Please add your dancer’s coach to your contacts:
Ashley Fisher, 208-419-2888, Sr Comp, Sr Gold, Gold Lift
Caroline Bates, 208-206-8215, Sr Black, Jr Wed, Pre-Jr Wed, Pre-T Wed
Elise Rich, 208-206-3661, Jr Mon, Pre-Jr Thurs
Sam Fisher, 208-403-2463, Sr Red, Jr Thurs, Silver Lift, Bronze 2 Tech
Sara Fisher, 541-944-7479, Sr Red, Jr Thurs, Silver Lift, Bronze 2 Tech
Jennifer Taylor, 208-390-1889, Bronze 1 Tech
Jaron Taylor, 208-346-2170, Pre-T Thurs
Nate Geddes (208) 419-2345. Bronze Lift
Kelli Geddes, (208) 206-0046 Bronze Lift
Thanks to all of you for staying in-the-know about your dancer’s schedules, events, changes, etc. We want to be good communicators, and we don’t want anyone to feel lost. Please let me know if you have any additional suggestions on how we improve on getting info to you.
Janie Fisher
Director, Idaho Ballroom Academy
208-201-6366